Jeez, you do tend to reproach yourself when the wheels are set in motion and you’ve gone and booked Sunday evening interview time with a dude who shares his working hours between black metal kingpins Mayhem and the evocatively titled NunFuckRitual. Teloch came with the disclaimer that he has some pretty gritty stories to share. As far as a Sunday activities go, phonetime with Teloch’s not exactly a Cheetos, sofa and Ghostbusters easy time. But hey, we wouldn’t expect anything less.
NunFuckRitual features Dan Lilker (Brutal Truth/etc) on bass, Andreas Jonsson on drums, Espen Tørressen Hangård on vocals. Debut LP In Bondage to the Serpent features additional vocals from Teloch’s comrade in Mayhem, Attila Csihar. It’s a weird trip on black metal, goes easy on the tempo and big on the atmosphere, and is apparently all about asexual reproduction. Of course, the Deciblog needn’t have worried about paling over in horror at Teloch’s testimony given that he was busy getting fucked up and listening to outlaw country when we called. When we did catch him, this is what he had to say for himself.
https://youtu.be/Dy3qylXvyQw
NunFuckRitual has existed for a number of years before you got a album out. How old are these songs, and have they evolved much from when they were first put together?
The first song was made in 2006, I think the whole pre-production, more or less, was made in 2006. I think we managed to keep the vibe we made on the pre-production. Of course, some small elements where added with the addition of new band members.
Indeed, these songs must feel quite lived-in for you: have you been writing since they were recorded?
Hell yeah, I’m sick and tired of that album right now. Haven’t listened to it since we released it. Have to put it to rest for a while, then pick it up later. I did not want to make any new material until we got the album released. I have enough songs on my computer that aren’t released with the other bands I’m doing, and I didn’t wanna do that with NFR as well. I made the sketch for the next album a couple of months ago.
There is a healthy amount of experimentation, in that you tend to avoid the blast-beat and riff approach; was it always so that Nunfuckritual would use slower tempos or was this something that came about accidentally/incidentally from writing the album?
That was actually my whole vision with this thing, to make something atmospheric with slow tempo and slow drums. So we stuck with the idea throughout the whole album, and it worked. Espen was really into it as well. This thing actually started from me being tired of blast-beats.
Do you think that black metal, given its ethos (the anti-, the nihilism and all that) lends itself to experimentation more so than other genres?
I can’t say anything about that since I don’t really give a fuck about it [black metal].
How full-time a concern is NunFuckRitual? Will you be looking to do more tours, more albums and more frequently, or let it fester and come back when the time is right?
Don’t think we will be a touring band, but we will do one-offs and festivals. The next album is already, as I mentioned earlier, it is in the works. We are too busy with our other bands to begin touring.
On a personal level, what interested you in asexual reproduction. The first thing that comes to my mind is Jurassic Park, but where did you got the idea/inspiration for it?
Personally I don’t give a fuck about asexual reproduction; the album needed a theme, and Espen came up with the whole idea. I think he got the idea from thinking around the band name. The short version could be something like this I guess : NunFuckRitual, fucking of nuns, nuns worshipping jesus, virgin born kid = asexual reproduction.
Do you listen to a lot of black metal these days?
Not at all, like I said in a interview earlier today, for me that is like taking work home with me. I want to focus more on making music rather than listening to it. It would be too much for my little mongoloid head to listen to metal when I’m home and trying to relax.
What other styles of music have been influencing you lately? I’ve heard you’ve been blasting outlaw country of late, are there any other styles, outside of BM that are exciting you?
Yeah, mostly I listen to old shit. Old jazz, there is a lot of gold in that genre and it calms me down. I have some periods where I listen to electronic music as well, aggressive break beat etc. As long as its good and not metal I can listen to it. Not sure if I get very influenced by the old things I listen to, at least I haven’t heard it yet. Not sure what I get influenced by this days… I don’t want to think about it either.
Are people, media and fans, too obsessed with the sensational personalities of black metal rather than just taking the music for what it is, or taking what they want from the music? It seems that the cult of personality is still too tempting for magazines/commentators and they’ll simply focus on these personalities, many of whom aren’t really relevant to the development of the genre, or extreme music/art in general (I’m thinking here of Burzum, but there are others).
Of course, that has always been the main focus and I guess it will always be. Its easier to sell music with exciting personalities than selling boring fucks. It’s a shame, but I don’t think there is much to do about it. Then again, musicians are a weird breed of people you know.
You’ve said that Nunfuckritual is maybe visual as well as abstract, does this extend to visuals for live performance, or are you talking more about the aesthetic of band, how your are presented (album art, etc.)?
Yeah, I meant if we are doing this live we have to make it look really nice. I don’t think this could work with only us and our instruments; of course it could have worked, but for us that would be boring. Its already very visual just listening to the CD, so combining visual music with phat visuals must be a winner. At least in my head, but it has to be well thought of.
Do you have any special Christmas message for Decibel readers?
Enjoy your egg nog after fucking a nun!
Hmm…. In Bondage to the Serpent is out now through Debemur Morti Productions
